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The ‘Vicious’ Cycle: Have LGBT Characters Evolved on TV?

Apparently the original title for “Vicious,” the PBS sitcom that premiered Sunday night starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as a gay couple together for almost 50 years, was “Vicious Old Queens.”

You got that right.

Hurling insults at each other with relentless zeal, Freddie (McKellen) and Stuart (Jacobi) seem to gleefully revel in out-zinging each other. We are meant to understand that this kind of cruelty is simply a sign of the strong bond the two men share, the back-and-forth barbs only reinforcing their love.

It’s certainly a kick to see these two giants of the British stage tear into each other with such abandon. Considering McKellen’s success with the “X-Men” and “Lord of the Rings” movies, no doubt PBS thought the show would travel well overseas. And I’m sure Jacobi and McKellen, both veterans of British television as well as out and proud gay men, are relishing the opportunity to play an openly queer couple. It’s also a credit to the show’s writer and executive producer, Gary Janetti, that he’s chosen this particular couple, as gay men and women of a certain age are all but ignored on television.

Having said all that, if Sunday night’s episode is any indication of the tone and arc of the series, it’s no wonder that the British media pounced on it. (Not that it mattered. The show was a hit, and has already been renewed for a second season.) Watching the men lash out at each other is entertaining for a few minutes, but quickly grows repetitive.